


The Fifteen Steps of Insanity: The (Second) Life and Woes of a Former Pharaoh

by evexe-n (manatsuko)



Series: Stepping Stones [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: (implied) Stoicshipping, DSOD ending spoilers (if you squint), Domestic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prideshipping, Scandalshipping, Threesome - M/M/M, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, post-dsod
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 05:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10237307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manatsuko/pseuds/evexe-n
Summary: The fic where I try to tell people that the OT3 of Kaiba, Set and Atem is one you should consider.---It all sounded like the opening line of a bad, drawn-out joke."A former Pharaoh, two magicians, a high priest and a girl that's too much dragon for her own good move into the house of a CEO and his little brother."Atem admits, he laughed at first. He isn't anymore. This all backfiredspectacularly.





	

**Author's Note:**

> how do you even write set / seto / atem why did i fall into this
> 
> ~~by lack of shipname I'm calling it denialshipping bc haha, Nile puns & Kaiba's denial about Atem being gone in dsod~~

 

 

 

Atem is going slowly insane, he's sure. He tries to think back and figure out how all of this... _madness_ happened. Starting from the beginning was always easiest, right?

 

First.

 

Kaiba somehow managed to travel all the way to Aaru and not die in the process.

Okay, sure, why not? Kaiba had always been unpredictable and prone to doing the impossible. Nothing new there. Just, on a slightly larger scale this time. Maybe a lot larger. Whatever.

 

Second.

 

Kaiba just kept visiting.

As one visit turned into two, turned into three, Atem accepted that this was going to be a regular occurrence. Kaiba got introduced, by Atem or by coincidence, to everyone else Atem had known during his first life.

Aknamkanon had shown up in the middle of one of their duels once, curious to see what kept his son occupied so often lately. He seemed amused by Kaiba's antics, for some reason.

Mana's first meeting with Kaiba went as well as one would expect from the mischievous girl, which is to say, she ended up running for her life once Kaiba figured out how all of his equipment had suddenly turned into solid rock.

He first met Mahad by nearly running into him while chasing Mana. A relatively uneventful first meeting, to be honest.

On the other hand...

It was agreed upon by all parties involved that the less was said about the first meeting between Kaiba Seto and priest Set, the better. More than a few servants got scared out of their wits. Kaiba didn't stick around in Aaru very long that day.

As it turned out, he got on with Kisara surprisingly well though.

 

Third.

 

One day he showed up claiming he'd be able to bring Atem back with him.

Atem vaguely remembers Kaiba explaining some further advance in his Solid Vision tech and entirely new data he'd been mining from the environment and people in Aaru during his previous visits. So that was what all the random equipment had been for.

Atem didn't understand a word of it.

He was convinced some form of magic was involved, though Kaiba vehemently denied being able to harness something that didn't exist. It was all science, he stressed.

 

Fourth.

 

The rest found out about this and insisted on coming along.

Mahad cited Atem's need for protection, Mana wanted adventure and new things to explore. He wasn't completely sure why Set wanted to come along with how much he despised Kaiba, but where he went, Kisara followed. Or maybe it was the other way around.

Kaiba begrudgingly allowed them.  

His father, Shimon and Isis agreed they would rather stay behind to keep things in order. Afterlife, paradise, Aaru or whatnot, incidents were prone to happen. Atem felt secure in leaving things in their hands.

He departed Aaru the same way he arrived: with a light heart and nerves high strung enough to tightrope walk on them.

He hadn't expected ever being able to go back, had basically accepted his death, but there was no way he could deny he'd been overjoyed to see his friends again. Their initial reactions varied from tearful, wordless hugs - Yugi, and later Téa when she flew over - to accusing Kaiba of some rather...colorful things - Joey, of course.

Atem was glad to be back.

 

Fifth.

 

Atem really hadn't thought things through.

A new life meant new identities. New identities meant a need for paperwork.

Kaiba had prepared the most basic legal documents they would need to get through - aside from Atem, the Egyptians had no idea what most were even for - but Atem had forgotten one important detail. Paperwork required a place of residence.

In hindsight, this is probably where everything went downhill.

If only Atem had returned, he could have just stayed at the Kame Game Shop. Yugi was going to college now, but he still helped out in the shop on the weekends and wouldn't have minded sharing his room with his closest friend.

But there were five of them. There was no way Yugi's grandfather would be able to provide housing for everyone. Not to mention, aside from Atem, none of them knew really much of anything about this world. The image of the chaos all of them could cause made Atem dizzy for a moment.

A lot of discussion, arguments, and frustrated noises later, it was agreed that staying at the Kaiba mansion would be the best option. It was large enough, secure enough, and didn't have any nosy neighbors asking questions. Mokuba was enthusiastic about the idea, Kaiba less so, though he didn't look displeased either.

Odd.

 

Sixth.

 

Safe to say, the first few months were an adjustment period for all of them.

The paperwork got sorted out, everyone picked out a room and got settled in best as they could. Kaiba provided basic supplies for all of them, anything from the obvious food and clothes to little trinkets like Atem's jewelry.

Within a week, they'd managed to break one of the TV's, three smartphones, a wireless pair of earphones and the microwave in the main kitchen. The fridge was still intact, but now sported a suspicious dent near the bottom right corner.

Kaiba called an emergency meeting and declared a need for a crash course in modern day technology. To Atem's relief, Mokuba was the one providing them all with daily two hour sessions of need-to-know machinery info and user guides.

He was actually grateful for those, since the only things he really learned from Yugi in regards to technology involved games or TV. He'd never needed to use anything else by himself before; even things like buying a train ticket was largely a mystery for Atem. He'd never done so much as turn on the stove in Yugi's house.

The microwave incident may have been his fault.

But he was very grateful they could all shop for clothes online now.

 

Seventh.

 

The longer they lived together, the more Atem started noticing little things about Kaiba.

It couldn't be helped, really. Even though Atem often went to hang out with Yugi and the gang on weekends and Kaiba was at the office for most of the day, they inevitably saw a lot of each other. It wasn't like any of the Egyptians liked going outside during winter to start with, either.

The things he noticed were nothing important, just details Atem never paid much attention to before.

Like his mussed hair when he strolled into the kitchen in the morning, fresh out of bed. The way his eyes would narrow in concentration whenever he was reading reports on his tablet. How the corners of his mouth would turn up fractionally whenever he looked at Mokuba.

His terrible moods where he'd glower and grumble at anyone nearby - except Kisara for some reason - and his good moods that were less rare than Atem expected. Those days, they'd find the Kaiba brothers playing games on their wide-screen TV and orders of take-out for all of them. Nothing brought them all together like food did. Even Set, who was still on shaky terms with Kaiba to say the least, visibly enjoyed trying out a variety of modern foreign foods.

Inevitably, Mana would insist on playing a game with all of them, pulling out whatever she could find that sounded fun from the game room. She called it 'Buddy Bonding', Kaiba cursing about letting her learn modern words already. Kaiba also refused to participate in nearly all of said games - Monopoly was still banned after the first time, as per Mokuba's veto - but sat nearby and worked through whatever task he had that evening. Atem was convinced Mokuba was also responsible for this.

Mahad indulged Mana for the most part, but drew the line at anything that could end in physical violence. No doubt he was mostly mortified at the thought of having to play games like Twister with Set of all people.

While the priest did join their gaming sessions, and was in fact one of the more competitive participants aside from Atem, he tended to read between turns. He'd taken a particular liking to historical fiction, funnily enough.

When not competing, Atem was the one to go to the kitchen to get snacks and drinks. Sometimes, he'd return to find Kaiba looking over at the others, seemingly lost in thought.

Atem definitely never noticed before how gentle Kaiba's expression could be.

 

Eighth.

 

Things escalated between Set and Kaiba.

Atem couldn't for the life of him figure out why. One moment they finally reached some measure of a truce, next, they're at each other's throats.

It started out small, with snide comments and out of place remarks. Atem still spent time with both of them, discussing books with Set over lunch and duelling with Kaiba after dinner. Then Set showed up one day in an outfit that was without any trace of doubt stolen from Kaiba's closet and the resulting fight got bad enough that Set and Seto couldn't be in the same room together _at all_.

Atem was getting worried here.

Mahad dismissed his fears, an exasperated tone to his voice, saying that everything would sort itself out like it usually did with those two. Mana was more sympathetic, obviously not comfortable with the current situation but clueless to the cause.

Kisara was nowhere to be found when Atem needed her, of course.

He'd just have to go talk to them himself.

The perfect opportunity presented itself one Tuesday morning, when Atem had woken up early, unable to fall back asleep. He'd resigned himself to feeling tired all day and sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of instant coffee. The coffee maker Kaiba owned was too complicated, in his opinion.

Atem had been staring into nothingness for a few minutes when Kaiba walked into the kitchen, dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, towel around his shoulders. Judging by the dripping wet hair, he'd just taken a shower.

"Morning", Atem greeted him sleepily.

Kaiba hummed back, "Good morning", before looking up from his phone. He shot a disgusted look at Atem's mug.

"Is that instant again?"

"Uhm, yes?" Atem didn't see the issue with taking the fast and easy route to caffeine.

Kaiba grumbled unintelligibly, shuffling over to the coffee machine and opening cupboards to get what he needed. The coffee grounds, little spoons, sugar, cups.

It'd been a while since Atem had managed to catch Kaiba alone, and he didn't want to bring it up in front of the others... It was basically now or never, then.

"What's going on with you and Set?" he asked.

Kaiba froze for a split second before replying, "There's nothing going on with me, though I wouldn't know about that stupid priest."

"That's not what I meant," Atem continued, "You're both at each other's throats the entire time lately and it's making other people uncomfortable."

Kaiba stayed silent, gaze fixed on the coffee dripping down from the machine.

His lack of reaction threw Atem for a loop. Silence meant he was basically admitting that something _was_ amiss, but didn't want to discuss whatever it was. Atem didn't know what else to say. He really didn't want to set Kaiba off.

The man in question put a cube of sugar into a cup, adding a dash of cream to the coffee as well. He stirred, still not looking at Atem. The atmosphere wasn't tense though, to Atem's surprise. It felt... Warm, somehow.

He settled for simply asking, "Are you okay though?"

Kaiba picked up two cups - where had that second one come from? - and walked over to the table, setting one down in front of Atem. He looked up in confusion, searching Seto's face for any hint it might hold.

Kaiba smiled at him. An honest-to-all-gods-he-knew smile. Aimed at Atem.

"Don't worry about it, it's not important."

With that, he left the room, trailing the aroma of black coffee and soap behind him.  

 

Ninth.

 

Atem was definitely attracted to Kaiba.

_Fuck._

Tenth.

 

_Set found out about yoga._

It has to be said that this on its own would not have been an event worth noticing. As much as Set loved reading and scholarly pursuits, he'd also always been fond of horseback riding and kept in good physical shape.

Apparently a recent snark-off with Kaiba had led the resident CEO to shout, "If you like bending over backwards for others that much, _try yoga_!" before storming out the front door. Not understanding the term - though he knew he'd been insulted - Set had gone online to find out what Kaiba meant.

Atem was not sure why Set had been interested enough to actually sign up for classes, but it resulted in him practicing even at home. He'd commandeered part of the room with gym equipment and weights as practice area, and taken to going over several stances each morning.

They seemed to occur around roughly the same time as Kaiba's training sessions.

Now, as mentioned before, Set's discovery and subsequent practicing of yoga wasn't Atem's issue. It was the fact that Set asked Atem to join him when he practiced.

Curious, he agreed to try.

He'd had no idea what hell he signed up for.

The stances themselves were easy, beginner ones that Set had mastered in the first few classes he participated in. Nothing too hard. Atem got the hang of it pretty quickly too, though he seemed to be overall less limber than Set. He had no idea how his friend could bend that far without breaking his back.

Their sessions made Atem further realize just how different Set and Seto actually were. He wasn't talking about their personalities, their clashing views on loyalty and friendship, no. Purely physically speaking, there were many features that differed.

Kaiba seemed to ooze power whenever he was in his CEO mode, but even when relaxed, the way he held himself spoke of a certain arrogance and confidence. During duels, he held fast and stood his ground, smirking and taunting all the while. He was beautiful.

Thinking that still made Atem grimace. Damn attraction.

But on the flipside, Mokuba had entrusted to Atem that his older brother couldn't dance without looking stiff as a board, and Atem had seen Kaiba nearly push over a vase once when he paid too little attention to his surroundings. His long limbs held power and grace, but they could just as well be clumsy whenever Kaiba got too tired or distracted.

Somehow Set managed to always look elegant. Atem had yet to see him stumble into objects or flail the slightest bit. It was kind of impressive.

There were more difficult to spot things too, like the light freckles that dusted Set's skin, while Kaiba's was the texture of porcelain. The shade of blue in their eyes was not exactly the same, Set's lips were slightly more pouty, Kaiba's jaw was the more pronounced of the two-

Atem shook his head. He needed to stop waxing poetic about Kaiba before it got embarrassing.

Set shifted his position, letting his limbs fall into the next stance. He looked over to Atem, waiting for him to imitate the movement.

As Atem complied and bent forward, he could hear three things happening.

The door opening.

The sound of something hitting one of the weight racks.

Kaiba cursing.

Startled, Atem sat up and twisted around, coming to face Kaiba. The latter was gripping his shin where he'd apparently knocked it into the metal rack. Atem winced. That'd probably bruise.

"Are you oka-"

" _Fine_ ", was all that Kaiba hissed out before he pointedly walked out the room with his usual gait, giving no sign of the pain he must be in.

Atem got the distinct feeling that Set was laughing, even without making a sound. He got up to follow Kaiba. Someone had to make sure he took proper care of that bruise.

He turned around to excuse himself to Set.

And stopped dead in his tracks.

Set had was moving between positions, stretching his legs, spine arched. Those pants he was wearing were probably illegal. Atem felt the blood drain from his face to more southern regions.

He stuttered out an apology and left the room posthaste before Set noticed.

This was _not good_.  

 

Eleventh.

 

Atem was definitely attracted to Set.

_Shit._

 

Twelfth.

 

He figured that as long as he kept his thoughts and his hands to himself, nobody had to know about his little issue. Because that's all it was. _Little_. Ignorable. No big deal.

You could be physically attracted to a person and not act on it. Or two people. Same thing.

It worked, for the most part. As long as he repressed that nagging voice in the back of his head to _touch_ and _feel_ , he could act the same he always did. Atem had always been proud of his pokerface.

He spent an entire Sunday afternoon in the mansion's game room with Kaiba, working their way from game to game until Mahad came to drag them out for dinner. It was exhilarating and fun and nearly as challenging as their duels. Atem hadn't laughed that much at once in ages. Kaiba's frustration about losing was the same as always, but... It was subdued and laced with subtle hints pointing to his enjoyment of their games regardless of the outcome. He'd really come a long way.

Atem had never felt a need to hug someone aside from Yugi this intensely. He wondered how Kaiba would react if he did so, if he'd push Atem away or wrap his arms around him, if he'd smell like cologne or shampoo, if his lips would be as soft as they looked-

His chest hurt, inexplicably.

He spent no less time with Set, continuing to share their thoughts on anything and everything from books they'd read to how people in Ancient Egypt were able to predict the weather more accurately than most modern weather forecasts did, honestly. It was comfortable and easy, and a lot less confrontational to talk with Set than it was with Kaiba. Well, mostly. Set could be just as quick to anger and stubborn as Kaiba when he wanted to be.

Set smiled a lot more though. Nothing big, but slow little smiles whenever he was happy and content that reached all the way to his eyes. They lit up his face and made him look positively radiant. Atem wished he could keep that smile there forever.

He felt another pang in his chest.

Well then.

 

Thirteenth.

 

He wasn't just attracted to both of them, he was _in love_ with both of them.

There was no way anything good could come of this.

His second life was really screwing him over, and not in a way he wanted.

 

Fourteenth.

 

Atem's days consisted of a lot of staring and definitely-not-pining.

He hoped he was at least being subtle about it, though Mahad's knowing looks and Mana's giggles weren't exactly reassuring.

Kisara had proved wholly unhelpful as well, prone as she was to come and go whenever she pleased. Moreover, Kaiba and her seemed to have reached an agreement of mutual not-bothering-the-other. This meant she kept her distance from the conflict between Set and Seto, much to her best friend's chagrin. In return, Kaiba didn't do anything to discourage her from hoarding stuff in her room. Anything from books to headphones disappeared in there lately.

She kept stealing Atem's sunglasses too.

And talking to Mokuba was entirely _not an option_.

He considered going to Yugi with his problems, but it didn't feel right to him. He wouldn't be able to explain how and why he ended up in this situation without revealing some personal stuff about both Kaiba and Set too. It felt like a breach of trust to do so.

Thus, staring.

Atem couldn't help himself. Both of them were right there, with him, in the same house. It was _summer_. Set had taken to wearing T-shirts and tank tops and the odd loose tunic here and there. Atem's brain tended to short-circuit if he focused on the exposed planes of skin too long. Kaiba's outfits started including lighter, thinner fabrics as well. One particularly hot day, his usual turtleneck got traded in for a short-sleeved dress shirt. Atem nearly dropped the glass of water he was holding at the time.

They were going to kill him by sheer proximity, he just knew it.

And still they spent time with him and glared daggers at the other, still Set's touches would linger and Kaiba would look at Atem with enough tenderness in his eyes for Atem's heart to skip a beat.

Atem was so frustrated, he felt like punching a wall. He couldn't do anything about these inconvenient feelings without becoming a possible murder victim. Confessing his feelings to either of them would end in disaster. ' _So I think I'm in love with you, but I'm also in love with this other person that at first glance looks a lot like you, I know, but I like you both for completely different reasons, I swear!_ ' Yeah no. He might as well start digging his new grave now.

More staring. Mostly at Kaiba, because all of Atem's misery started with him and was therefore somehow his fault.

At least Kaiba himself seemed oblivious to Atem's eyes on him, busy as he was still tracking Set's every movement with suspicion. Set also tended to sneak glances whenever Kaiba wasn't looking and frown to himself before facing another direction. Whenever Set and Kaiba were in the same room, it was like Atem disappeared for the time. It was useful, but also annoying.

Thus, Kaiba staring at Set led to Atem staring at Kaiba staring at Set, and eventually to Atem staring at Set to try and figure out why Kaiba was staring at Set.

It was one big feedback loop of staring.

Today was one of those days. It was early Saturday morning, and a day off for all of them. Kaiba had promised Mana to take them all to Kaiba Land if she'd ' _just shut up for more than five minutes so I can finish reading this'_ so here they were, gathered in the kitchen.

Some more awake than others.

Mana, who'd taken a shine to cooking as substitute for potion-making, had somehow managed to fling the spatula up on one of the higher cupboards. She took one look at Kaiba before begging Set for help instead. It hadn't even occurred to her to ask Mahad, who looked ready to keel over any second. Kisara handed the mage a cup of coffee - courtesy of Mokuba manning the coffee machine -  and patted his shoulder. At least some people in the house were getting along.

Atem's gaze fixed itself, as usual by now, to Kaiba's face. He was scrolling through some news articles, letters flashing by on the screen. Atem doubted he was actually reading any of them. Taking a sip of his coffee, Seto looked over to the ruckus that was Set trying in vain to reach the spatula without a stepping stool, and Mana encouraging him instead of doing something actually helpful.

Atem followed Kaiba's line of sight.

Straight to the stretch of exposed skin where Set's shirt had ridden up.

Kaiba put his cup back down harshly, stood up, and declared he was going to call for the driver. As he left the room, Atem looked back over to Set.

As expected, he had paused in his task and narrowed his eyes at Kaiba's retreating back.

Not-as-expected, his gaze slid _down_.

A bit too far down to be innocent.

Oh.

 _Oh_.

 

Fifteenth.

 

...Atem can work with this.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was all written for fun, and in like 12h, so don't shoot me. I just really want these three to interact.
> 
> Both me and yugihell have so many headcanons on this AU, you have no idea. If you want to ask stuff about anything from relationships to side characters, hmu on tumblr [ [Here] ](https://evexe-n.tumblr.com) !
> 
> If you're one of the people who clicked on this before yugihell corrected all my mistakes I'm sorry.
> 
> (minor edits made on 21/04/2017: fixed spelling mistakes)


End file.
